The private label sector in Italy is growing. In the first six months of this year private label products have recorded increases in sales of 1.8% in value and 0.9% in volume, increasing their market share to 18.6% of the market for Packaged Mass Consumption Goods.

These findings from IRI research, bode well for “Marca 2017”, the 13th edition of the important international event for private label products, organised by BolognaFiere in collaboration with ADM, the association for businesses operating in the sector of grocery retail and production. Marca, Europe’s second largest Fair for the sector and among the leading events worldwide for private label products, will take place the 18th and 19th January 2017 at the Bologna Exhibition Centre.

The research into Private Labels has been carried out by the Marca-BolognaFiere Observatory and was presented at the Copacker Seminar on the subject of “New horizons in despecialized distribution” held on the 15th September in Bologna.

According to the IRI data, up to July of this year, sales of private labels in packaged mass consumption goods reached 9.7 billion euros, generating resulting in significant savings for consumers and productivity for suppliers.

There was also an increase in the assortment of private labels which in July reached 1,384 products on average on the shelves with significant growth in the organic sector (+9.5%) and the premium sector (+11.6%). Today consumers are looking to save money but they are also interested in quality: the tendency is to purchase the higher quality products in the range, i.e. the industrial brand being promoted or the guaranteed commercial brand.

“The activities for the organization of “Marca 2017” have begun,” explains Marco Momoli, Italian commercial director of BolognaFiere. “The event has been developing well in a market that is still showing signs of growth, although this is not quite as dramatic as the growth experienced a few years ago. Marca is now well established and the coming edition will be housed in three new pavilions that will offer a much larger area than those of the 2016 edition. Marca continues to represent a reference point for the Italian market and also for many international operators.”

The 2016 edition of Marca recorded 7,546 professional visitors (data certified by ISF Cert ISO 25639) with an increase of +26% compared with the 2015 edition. 2016 also saw an increase in the number of large groups attending (21 compared with 17 in 2015), co-packer companies exhibiting (55 in total, an increase of 15.4%) and the exhibition space used (+12.6%).